We manipulate this head on Celestron booth during photokina ( was only a prototype at this time ).Yes, it is really heavy, not at all the kind of stuff a photographer want in its backpack. The good point is the reversible harm : it allows to put on the head a giant telescope that would hit the background plate in standard telescope setup. That is quite great.

Nevertheless for photography work, I don't think it's an improvement over the old Merlin.

10kg own weight and only 4.8kg payload sound like that the same motors are used...Georg

*** Edited by Rob - Oct 2012 - The head when separated from the tripod weighs about 4.8 Kg and may be mounted on a different tripod if you wish, it has a center screw hole location for this. The encoders and clutch mechanisms are heavier duty than the Merlin and the clutch may be disengaged allowing free manual rotation while the encoders still track the position. The stepper motors support an upper rate of 1000x which is faster than the Merlin which I believe is 800x ***

Last edited by gkaefer on Tue Feb 15, 2011 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

sorry...forgot: I'm a new one of you! Hello every body! 360Âº photo is a wonderfull hobby! I'm waiting for my Merlin that must arrive this week.my presentation: www.360cities.net/profile/sotero-ferreiramy first equipement: Canon 400D + Sigma 8mm 3,5 + agno's mrotator Tcpshort.my equipment:Canon 5DmkII + shaved Tokina 10-17+ canon 55-200+ old canon 30-80and Canon 550D+sigma 18-200 and canon 18-55software:Hugin, Ptgui, AutoPano pro, P2vr, Krpano. on Mac and Windows.I'm portuguese living near Tomar and working as architect at Convento de Cristo (you must visit this history book with 800 years).

Good luck with it, the preversion I have seen two years ago at Photokina were bulky and so heavy !! All the more it doesn't include battery or anything, it's outside and linked to head with a cable !For bluetooth Module, difficult to know for now, I think we'll need to wait someone gets an unit in hands !

Vincèn

*** Edited by Rob - Oct 2012- BT module from Claude and Papywizard works fine with the AllView head - The AllView has a battery compartment taking AA rechargeable cells, plus it has a power socket and can be driven from a 12V external Li-Ion CCTV power pack (about 25 Euros) or from a 12v DC 1 A power adapter (about 12 Euros) ***

Hey guys - sorry, been away from the forum for a bit - been busy with my Dynamic Perception rig. Was actually in Celestron a few months back and had the op to ak some questions on this mount and the Skywatcher (aka Merlin or Orion Accuter). It is official - the MERLIN is offically discontinued by Celestron .

I thought I'd repost this here for all:

Ok... I don't see this as good news for us here, but according to Celestrons Website the new All View mount is available for sale this March (http://www.celestron.com/portal/skywatc ... mount.html) at a whooping $399.

The mount DOES NOT detach from the tripod? Website says "Motorized head detaches for use with most prosumertripods using 3/8â€ thread" but FAQ says it DOES NOT detach from tripod Manual says nothing.

It does connect to a computer via a cable from the attached hand controller. It DOES have a built in panoramic and time lapse mode in the hand controller. It looks bigger and heavier (manual states 9 lbs) then the Merlin that has been discontinued.

Not sure about it's ability to interface with the MX2. There is a manual online to cover setup and use details (the manual looks like a draft copy).

The time lapse mode looks interesting thought the hand controller interface might be a bit confusing. Basically set the mount to the start point, move it to the end point, set the interval and exposure info and let it go - least that's how I read it.

Many mounting options for the camera. Comes with a cable for Canon EOS Rebel camera (?)

Anyone willing to risk the cash to test this out - am sure many are curious to see your results._________________Mike Lanforwww.airplayphoto.comUS Army Retired

Kolor seems to have tested this Allview mount and have reported that Papywizard can work with this mount.Anyway, as said in the post for Androïd, Skywatcher have published the "Skywatcher API" who is common for most mount of skywatcher and "affiliates" like Celestron.

I'm brand new to the site and to robotic panoramic photography. I've been trying to decide which mount I should use, and have decided on the new Celestron AllView for a couple reasons.

1. It includes the L bracket needed for portrait and landscape panoramas.2. It supports more weight than the original merlin.3. It has all the ports needed to use papywizrd (from what I can tell)4. It will be better suited for long exposure, star tracking photography when I choose to use it.5. The build quality seem better.

These are just the reasons I gave myself to justify the purchase. Once the mount arrives, I will be more than happy to be the guinea pig for the forum as far as running papywizard, and for any other questions you guys may have. Also, I am wondering if the bluetooth module is something that is required to connect to papywizard, or will a hardline work? I look forward to getting the ball rolling on this mount, we have to start somewhere!